United States v. McKibbins, No. 09-2823 (7th Cir. 2011)
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Defendant was arrested in a park while on his was to meet a person he believed to be a 15-year-old girl with whom he had been chatting online. He called his family and asked that they hide electronic equipment in his bedroom. His efforts were unsuccessful. He e was convicted of knowingly attempting to persuade a minor to engage in sexual activity, 18 U.S.C. 2422(b); travel in interstate commerce for the purpose of engaging in a prohibited sexual act with a minor, 18 U.S.C. 2423(b); and obstruction of justice for attempting to destroy his electronics with the intent to deprive the government of its use, 18 U.S.C. 1512(c). The Seventh Circuit affirmed, upholding the district court's theory was that everything on the computer was direct evidence of obstruction because it demonstrated why defendant worked so hard to get a family member to destroy or hide electronic storage media. Noting the overwhelming evidence on the other counts, the court concluded that any error in admitting the images was harmless.
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